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Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Necromaniac Chapter 5 "Frozen Fury" Part 1

"Frozen Fury" Part 1

Ok, of all things that could've happened when I arrived in Nightside﻿ from Sorceria, this was least possible of them. I come back to find Nightside with so much snow, you'd think it was a tundra. Me and Sestiva didn't even step off the Necrocycle for 2 minutes our brains were locked from shock. Poor Mortis (the death tree, in case you didn't know who that was) was frozen solid, although his eyes turned in our direction when we arrived. Ice was brewing on parts of the Death school. Icicles were hanging over the doorway and over the edges all over the school. Even the graves near Mortis were completely buried in snow, and you could only see the top of the gravestones sticking out. The death tower was covered in ice, as well and the door was frozen shut. I had no idea what happened while we were gone, so I decided to thaw Mortis out first. Snow was still cascading down, as if trying to blind my vision. I tried hacking at the ice with my scythe, claws, and spiked boots, but the ice wasn't even scratched. There was no way we were gonna break the ice, so we would have to melt it. When it came to fire, I knew there was one person to call...

4 minutes later, after treading through more snow and ice, we were in front of Professor Falmea. "I wouldn't doubt that Nightside would be frozen too, because right now, all of Wizard City is covered in ice."

"WHAT?!?! Are you serious?!", I asked. It couldn't be. As much as I wanted her to be wrong, she wasn't.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Falmea answered, "I've sent some of my students to try to melt some of the snow. They've managed to melt the snow around the fire school, but more snow is still coming in. The only things in ravenwood that didnt seem to be frozen was Bernie and Kelvin. If you need to get the school thawed out, I may have one thing that can help." Falmea walked into the back of the classroom, searching for something. A moment later, she walked out with a bronze plate lit with a large flame. "This is Dragon's Fire," she explained, "Just a small portion will heat up the nearby area and consume any ice nearby. Don't worry, I've enchanted it so that it will only burn the ice and snow, nothing else."

We thanked Falmea and made the long walk back to Nightside. I carried the bronze plate over to where Mortis was frozen, tipped it towards the ice, pushing the fire towards it, and sure enough, the ice was quickly melted. The fire continued and melted all of the snow in Nightside. The area warmed up a bit and snow continued to fall, but not as much.

"Thank you, free from that Ice," Mortis began saying, "It was all so fast. One minute, everything was normal. The next minute, a bright blue flash appears and that's all I remember before being frozen along with the rest of Nightside."

I told Mortis about what Falmea had said, and about the Dragon's flame.

"Some serious ice magic is at work. You'll need to speak to Dworgyn and see what he thinks about the situation."

I pushed the door open to find Dworgyn wrapped up in a black Snuggie decorated with Skulls. "Well, quite the blizzard! I've never seen so much snow before in my life!", he said with a shaky voice, "You two look like you're about to freeze over! Come on over and warm up!" He waddled his way to the back and brought out 2 more death school snuggies. We thanked him and put them on. He also brought out a kerosine heater, which happened to run on onyx rather than kerosine. We sat around the heater.

"I hope you don't mind", Sestiva whispered as she wrapped her arms around me.

I smiled. "Not at all", I whispered and put an arm around her.

"So how did it all go?", Dworgyn asked. I knew he was referring to Sorceria. I told him about what happened from the time we left the school to when we came back to find Nightside frozen over. I also already told him what I already knew about the snow all over wizard city and about Mortis's encounter with the snow.

"Wow, so you two have been through quite a bit," Dworgyn said in response, "And I think Mortis is right. We may have another crisis on one of the 7 worlds. You will need to speak to Lydia Greyrose. She may know the exact source of the snow."

"You're right-" I began to say but stopped myself because I heard something outside. I heard the sound of a running engine, one you would hear on a bus. What would a bus be doing here in Nightside? I was about to find the answer in a matter of moments. The engines stopped and the sound of feet crunching in the snow grew louder. Something or someone was approaching. There was a knock, but before anyone could answer, the door swung opened and a figure stood there...

The figure was wearing solid black all over. The figure wore a black hoodie that was decorated with skulls and had the word "Death" in silver letters written across the front. The person had its arms tucked into 2 pockets at the front. It also wore a pair of black jeans that were tattered and there were holes in different areas. The figure also wore solid black shoes that seemed to shine a bit. The figure also had onyx black chains around his neck and one of them had a large "D" on it. I would recognize this guy from anywhere.

"Long time no see, Death!", Dworgyn exclaimed.

"It certainly has been a long time, old chum", Death said, pulling his hoodie down to reveal a living skull for a head. His eyes glowed red, almost as if he had rubies for eyes. Death held out his skeletal hand and Dworgyn shook it and then the two hugged. Death pulled away and saw me. "And if it ain't Tim! Last time I saw you, you were a wee little wizard. You've certainly grown, and you've certainly changed too! I bet you're surprised I still recognize ya but that's cause I never forget one of my favorite homies", Death said, smiling.

"What's up, Big D?", I said, shaking hands with him. Long ago, when I was just starting as a student of the death school, Death had to substitute one day for Dworgyn because Dworgyn came down with the sniffles. He was a really great teacher and gave some excellent tips. He and Dworgyn have been 2 of my greatest friends since. And yes, Big D is death himself.

Death saw Sestiva and whispered to me with a wink, "Nice girlfriend," and then he spoke louder: "I was driving my bus after dropping off some souls in the after life and then I was hit by a wall of snow. It took some time, but I thawed the engines out. As I drove by the worlds of the spiral, I saw that each of them were covered in ice and I decided to swing by here and sure enough, it was icy here too."

I caught Death up to speed about everything that had recently took place since we got back from Sorceria. I also explained to him that we were just about to head out to see Professor Greyrose.

"Well if it's transportation you need, the Death bus is the way to go!", he declared, and began leading us outside.

"Death drives a bus?", Sestiva asked.

"Of course! When you die, it's more of a beginning than an ending. Death is simply what transports one from the physical world to the afterlife after one dies. And then you end up in one of two places", I explained. We stepped out of the school to find a solid black bus in front of us. Death clapped twice as the doors opened up and we climbed into the bus. He clapped twice again and the doors closed. The windows were tinted so dark, you could barely see out of them. We looked towards the seats and Sestiva jumped out of surprise as people began appearing in the seats. At least I thought they were people, until I looked closer and I could see right through them. Death must have been reading my mind. "Spirits", he explained, "These are the spirits of people who have just died. Soon, I will need to take them to their appropriate destination in the afterlife." Some of the spirits were confused and started trying to get out of the bus, but were pushed back by an unseen force. "Nothing can escape the jaws of Death", he explained again, "And they cannot arise from the dead unless The Lord says otherwise. But before I take them to their destinations, I need to get you guys to Professor Greyrose."

He got in the driver's seat and closed the doors. Me and Sestiva took some empty seats behind the driver's seat. He took out a skeletal key and started the ignition. The bus lurched forward as we began moving. In a matter of moments, we arrived in front of the Ice School. He stopped the bus and opened the doors.

"Hey, death," I began saying, "Before we leave go inside the ice school, can we go along for the ride after talking to Professor Greyrose?"

"I don't know, I've never taken live mortals into the afterlife before. You may not be prepared for what you are about to see", Death answered.

"Please! If you take us for the ride and then take us to Dworgyn, we'd love it if you could tag along if Greyrose were to send us somewhere to find out what's cause the massive Ice storm across the spiral."

Death thought for a moment. "Alright," he finally said, "Only cause you're my homie. Don't be long though, I need to get these spirits into the afterlife."

"Thanks Big D, and we will be back in flash." Me and Sestiva stepped off the bus pushed open the door of the Ice school..